yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Captivate General] Croak:
I was just having fun with stereotypes and US-centric worldview. :)

The $650 is from a $500 outright price, plus 13% HST (VAT/sales tax, un-lubricated violation, pick whatever term suits you), then $75+HST to unlock. Works out to $649.75 CAD total. And with today's exchange rate, THAT works out to..$650 USD.

If you buy out of the country from Bell (if you can find a source), you won't get the tax, but you'll get expensive shipping costs and maybe duty that'll amount to about the same if not more.

As for why buy the Captivate in Canada instead, as of next Friday there's only one reason. It doesn't look like ass.
[Captivate General] Croak:
Blowtoke, I have $587 CAD in my Captivate, just from the purchase price (WA sales tax and exchange rate).

Add another $20 in for fuel to get to the US store and back, another $15 for a TurboSim that may or may not work, and HOURS of time spent on the phone and internet trying to get the damn thing unlocked. On top of that, if something goes wrong with the phone, it's another PITA cross-border trip to take it back to the retailer.

Viewed that way, the Bell Vibrant unlocked is not a bad deal, with the peace of mind knowing it works right off the bat, and it can be easily exchanged if something goes wrong.
[Captivate General] armrob:
I just checked out the vibrant at my local Bell store and when i asked about buying it outright (i'm with Rogers), I'm told Bell has a 90 day period before they release the unlock code and you need to have an active account. plus the ridiculous 75$ fee.

unless the code will be provided by a third party, it's a no go !
[Captivate General] makarius:
Im using the captivate with turbo sim. Ill try to attach some pics. Im with claropr here in Puerto Rico abd so far everything is working.
[Captivate General] makarius:
The sim needs to be cut on the top left corner. Heres a pic of the one I used. Hope this helps.
[Captivate General] chafico21:
This sim comes from this website senppo.com, i chatted with their support team, sended your picture and they confirmed that is their product.
[Captivate General] Berserk87:
Is it this one?

http://www.senppo.com/i-smartphone-unlock-sim-card-for-any-phone

or this one?

http://www.senppo.com/i-Smartphone-2010-NEW-DoCoMo-SOFTBANK-Unlock-Hypersim
[Captivate General] Wander73:
Just wanted to add that Im in the same boat as everyone in this thread and when I called AT&T (international and local) they told me that the codes wont be available for 10 months. Ill keep calling unless someone posts a link to a turbosim that works :rolleyes:

@makarius: is that black sim the adapter in the picture you posted? I dont see anything that looks like that on the senppo website
[Captivate General] mack:
i can confirm my turbo sim DOES NOT work with rogers and the captivate. I can make calls but there is no data. APN settings does not stick when i change the MCC and MNC. Also another annoying thing about it is if you happen to loose reception for whatever reason (like going into the subway) the phone will not reconnect. you will have to take out the sim, put it into a phone that will accept it then put it back into your captivate. this could be a turbosim issue.
[Captivate General] prking07:
mack you have to go to settings and enable data roaming for it tto work. give it a try and comment back.
[Captivate General] prking07:
and you dont have to change mcc nor mcn
[Captivate General] prking07:
oh another thing select your carrier manually and leave it manual see if that helps.
[Captivate General] Aqua1ung:
What Bell 's Vibrant does not have is quad-band HSDPA. It's only a dual-band HSDPA. That killed it for me.
[Captivate General] Rad_Fishy:
Where did you see this?
[Captivate General] mendy7511:
according to the captivate box it is tri band UMTS not quad (850, 1900, 2100) no 900 or 1800.
[Captivate General] mack:
oh very interesting. I will definately try that when i get home tonight and report back. i totally missed that and it makes sense now.

thanks. will report back later
[Captivate General] Aqua1ung:
See the tech specs here: http://www.wireless.att.com/cell-ph...msung+Captivate+(TM)+-+Black&q_sku=sku4760319
[Captivate General] Aqua1ung:
Forum rumors everywhere, though I'm afraid they're true.
[Captivate General] makarius:
The one I used is black. The package says "i-smartphone" in red and then in smaller letters mobile phone unlocking. But i bought mine at a local store here not online
[Captivate General] mendy7511:
I know, and I was really excited about that until I saw the box.
[Captivate General] jentech:
UPDATE: I phoned Bell again this morning to reconfirm my unlock request, and was told that I would have to have a Bell account, but that even with an account the phone was not unlockable at this point becuase it was new. Such a run around with these damn cell companies. So it looks like it's the same as ATT, depends on the CSR you talk to.
[Captivate General] Davindy:
Oh my.....I couldn't agree more!

Unless I can get my hands on an unlocked Bell Vibrant, or a way of unlocking the Bell Vibrant, I will be waiting another few weeks for the Captivate on Rogers and be done with this nonsense!!!!
[Captivate General] mendy7511:
By the way, for all of you skeptics, a picture showing a different network does not prove that it works or is unlocked.

Mine shows Telus because I am in Canada with an AT&T sim!
[Captivate General] jentech:
At this point I'm torn between moving to Bell (they gave me a great proposal) and buy the Vibrant on contract or wait for Rogers and get them to rebuild my plan. I think either way I'm gonna get locked into another 3 years at this point. On Bell, I will have access to more phones (CDMA and HSPA), but I'm not sure about their service, but then I have hassles with Rogers anyways. Any feedback???
[Captivate General] Davindy:
I can tell you first hand that Rogers is very good to me, I've been with Rogers for 8+yrs, about 3 months ago I called up and wanted to cancel everything (at least that's what I told them) I went through the usual channels and ended up with the infamous Rogers Customer Retention dept. Let me tell you I was offered an awesome plan, here's what I get for 99$/month

I should note that all these features are included on 2 lines for $99/month

Evenings and Weekends start at 6PM

2500 text messages a month per phone

1GB of data shared

Call Waiting, Caller ID and Voicemail for free

No Government, or system access fees for both lines (that alone is like $20/month)

My 5 Canada Wide

And 500 minutes of talk time per month.

And of course unlimited calling and txt'ing between lines

I think I'm missing something but that about covers the important details, I worked out that I'm saving roughly $75/month, plus they discounted my Home Internet by 20%. I got all this just for inquiring about canceling my services with Rogers, I highly suggest everyone try their luck to see what they can get from Rogers.

Anyway back on topic, I can definitely wait a few more weeks for Rogers to drop the Captivate so I'm not dealing with all this locked phone BS, not to mention if I wait I can probably get it on a discount by doing a mid contract Hardware Upgrade, it won't be much but probably save me $100. And as far as contracts go, I have no problem renewing 3 yr terms whenever I have a reason because I will ALWAYS have a need for a cell phone, and in my opinion Rogers is the best in service for me anyway....

Sorry for the long post....
[Captivate General] jentech:
....................

I think I'm missing something but that about covers the important details, I worked out that I'm saving roughly $75/month, plus they discounted my Home Internet by 20%. I got all this just for inquiring about canceling my services with Rogers, I highly suggest everyone try their luck to see what they can get from Rogers.

Anyway back on topic, I can definitely wait a few more weeks for Rogers to drop the Captivate so I'm not dealing with all this locked phone BS, not to mention if I wait I can probably get it on a discount by doing a mid contract Hardware Upgrade, it won't be much but probably save me $100. And as far as contracts go, I have no problem renewing 3 yr terms whenever I have a reason because I will ALWAYS have a need for a cell phone, and in my opinion Rogers is the best in service for me anyway....

Sorry for the long post....[/QUOTE]

Haha, no problem. Here's what Bell offered for $150/mo. for 2 phones

Combined shared local minutes of 1100 for daytime

Unlimited Local and Canadian long distance calling between the phones

Unlimited nights and weekends local calling from 6pm

Call Display, Voice Mail, text messaging on all lines

6GB data each on both lines

Call Forwarding, call waiting & Conference calling on all lines

also;

Waive connection charge of $35 on all lines

Bill credit of $150 for each phone

I think that with the new GSM service on Bell and Telus, that everyone is on a pretty even playing field with regards to the quality of their phone service. It's just a matter of who do you want to be with. Problem for me is my son needs a new phone now and I don't think he wants to wait another 6 weeks or so.
[Captivate General] Davindy:
Jentech, that sounds like a very good deal as well, 6GB of data is huge! On a heavy month my record is just under 400MB of data, but that would come in handy for the thering, does Bell allow it like Rogers does?
[Captivate General] jentech:
I'm in real estate as as such I do a lot of web viewing of listings and searches. I've hit 2.8GB in a month, but average around 1.6, and yes, Bell does support tethering.
[Captivate General] Croak:
I moved from Rogers over to Telus last year when they turned on the HSPA network just because I could, and because I had some issues with a particular CSR that really really ticked me off.

I've been VERY happy with the coverage in Vancouver and the GVA. Network speeds were/are still faster than Rogers thanks to less congestion.

I'm less thrilled when I'm out in the sticks (I do a lot of sport-touring motorcycle riding), and sometimes I really miss being able to fall back down to EDGE in Canada. There's also a wider selection of "import" phones you can use on Rogers because of 2G/EDGE support (albeit with limited data functionality) that won't work at all on Telus/Bell, not even voice.

I also spend a lot of time in the US for business, and Rogers now has that awesome shared US/Canada data bucket option, far superior to the Data Roaming $1/mb "discount" that Bell and Telus offers. Telus does have a shared bucket/no-roaming deal, but it is ONLY for business accounts.

Both Bellus and Rogers end up roaming on AT&T when in the US for data and voice on GSM devices in either case, so there's no advantage there.

Long story short, Rogers does not suck that bad, and Rogers has some real legacy benefits over Bell and Telus for GSM users in Canada.

I'd wait a month if I were you. And by some reports, it won't even be a month, it'll be August 20th.
[Captivate General] jentech:
Thanks, Croak. It's given me more to think about now, lol.
[Captivate General] ron_barcello:
Not usable in Europe?

Is that right that at the moment there is no unlock code available to use the captivate here in Europe?

That would be a blame for me cause i buy some a few days ago guess it would be possible :eek:
[Captivate General] Croak:
Went out at lunch and looked at the Bell Vibrant (Georgia Street corp store, Downtown). Much less ugly than the T-Mobile. The battery cover is tasteful-ish, the bezel is black chrome instead of full on chrome. Still doesn't feel as good as the Captivate in the hand, not by a long shot.

Still, I put a $50 deposit on one to guarantee getting it tomorrow, and it's the "last one" according to the sales rep. Looking into the ECF math, because Bell does that US data plan just like Rogers, which could pay for itself rather quickly...by the time I return the Captivate for a refund, pay the ECF and get a $150 Vibrant I may come real close to breaking even, especially if I unload my like-new Milestone for a few hundred.

I'll let you Vancouver XDA guys know if I change my mind, if you want a crack at the phone on launch day/weekend you can rollover my deposit at the Georgia Street store.
[Captivate General] jentech:
Found two asian independant phone stores that have the Vibrant today, actually they had them yesterday. So, I've made up my mind to move to Bell. They are giving me a $250 credit (instead of Bells $150) to offset my cancellation costs with Rogers and a plan that gives me six months free, so I don't have to shell out full costs for a ton of minutes until then. Will return my Captivate and the math just works for me at this point. Might regret it later, only time will tell.
[Captivate General] Croak:
Le sigh. Le sad.

Oh, and T-Mobile Vibrants also have the /02 at the end of the IMEI, verified by a co-worker who bought his new toy yesterday, and is trying to use it on WIND up here...he's also waiting for an unlock.
[Captivate General] jentech:
That's too bad. I've tried several venues, but no go at this point. That guy in Burnaby couldn't do the cable unlock, but he said he talked to someone else, somewhere, who said they should be able to provide a code. Sent him my IMEI, waiting........
[Captivate General] Croak:
Not long after the codes hit AT&T's system, greed will hit an employee that has access, and then a few days after that the unlocking sites and kiosks will have the codes.

And there's always the Samsung internal "back door", which is probably a lot more leak-prone than AT&T, and Samsung is going to be a lot less concerned about security, it's in their interest to move as many phones as they can.
[Captivate General] jentech:
Just wondering how long I can wait before I can no longer return it. By the time the codes come out, the Vibrant might be out on Bell, which should work on Rogers.
[Captivate General] Croak:
You have 30 days if you bought it in an AT&T store, pretty much no questions asked if you have the receipt, all the packaging and it's not trashed cosmetically.
[Captivate General] accinfo:
35 bucks + tax for restocking fee.
[Captivate General] nickbarbs:
Awww No way. I just spoke to my ATT rep yesterday when I ordered the phone and she told me as long as your account is in good standing and you've been with us longer than 90 days we can unlock this for you at the SIM level.

This is really dissapointing, I spend my time 50/50 in the UK and i want to use my UK sim card with this machine.
[Captivate General] _Opiate_:
If unlockallcellular doesn't have an unlock code available then the codes simply aren't available yet. Give them some time.
[Captivate General] dracio:
Unlock Codes

From what I have seen AT&T is pretty good at unlocking phones that are bought outright. It'll take 72hrs + for verification. Some reps will unlock over the phone and other reps will ask for a fax to be sent in. Just wait till you get a rep that will do it over the phone with you. Let them know i bought it to use on a carrier over seas.
[Captivate General] jentech:
I talked to 3 different reps. They all took my information and started the process only to have their system pop up a message that the phone is exclusive and cannot be unlocked for 10 months.
[Captivate General] nickbarbs:
I'm going to grasp onto rays of hope that this is a bug that will get sorted out within a few days.. ATT relationship is with the customer, if my business line doesnt get a code i'll have words with the usefulness of their service.. Lol.
[Captivate General] dracio:
If it's an exclusive then according to their policy it will be 10 months.
[Captivate General] jentech:
A new twist. Just had a callback from AT&T and I pleaded my case once again, and it's been escalated. Might be a day or two, and no promises she said.
[Captivate General] nickbarbs:
There's no reason we shouldnt get sim unlocks for it, exclusive or not.

I do appreciate you paving the road for this process!! keep us informed.
[Captivate General] Croak:
Hmm, should I jump on this bandwagon? I never got far enough to give contact information, just my IMEI number and conversational usage of my name. So there won't be a callback.
[Captivate General] jentech:
Hang tight. Let's see where this goes. Worst case scenerio, and it would suck, take it back to AT&T and wait for the Bell Vibrant at the end of the month.
[Captivate General] Davindy:
In my opinion the Vibrant isn't nearly as nice as the Captivate......Vibrant looks too much like an iPhone......it would give me a complex....:p

I seriously hope that this works out for you, I will be making a trip to the nearest US Walmart ASAP if so.

I've got experience with rooting tons of Android devices, but I have never had to unlock one, what do you think the chances are of getting this unlocked before the 10 month exclusive period is up? Can a phone be unlocked in other ways other than the provider or an unlocking site (which has no support for Captivate IMEI's yet anyway)?

Good luck....and keep us posted!!!
[Captivate General] Croak:
That would suck, the Bell version or pretty much any other version of the Galaxy S is not an option for me. Aesthetics and feel are a big reason I went with the Captivate in the first place, and the rest of the S line is, well, tacky, despite the killer hardware.

I made another call to AT&T, talked to a nice rep, chatted about the weather in Illinois, talked about Canada and the US, and then had her tell me the same thing I'd already been told. Unlock Eligibility: Ineligible. Unlock Eligibility Date: Unknown.

She took my number and promised to keep checking on a regular basis, since the phone was so new it might just need time for the codes to get in the system (once the codes exist, she was pretty sure she could get access to mine), and there was always a chance there would be a policy change on the Captivate, especially if the phone wasn't selling well.

I'm going to ride this down to the 30 day wire to see if AT&T (unlikely) or 3rd party (more likely) can help me out. I'll stick with my trusty Milestone if I return the Captivate, there's nothing else in the Android GSM market with NA bands that does what I want, that I can stand looking at.
[Captivate General] jentech:
Still waiting on AT&T escalated support, but here's the answer I got from Samsung on an unlock;

Dear Scott,

Thank you for your inquiry. Unfortunately, we cannot assist in unlocking the phone for use on another network. We hold a proprietary licensing agreement with your Service Provider and it would be in violation of this agreement to assist in unlocking the phone.

Your Service Provider has these codes and should be able to provide support for this.

Online: http://www.wireless.att.com/answer-center/main.jsp

Phone: 1-888-333-6651

Please Note: Unlocking of the phone, although at the discretion of the service provider is possible, will void all Samsung warranties for support or service. Features that are available on the intended network may not be accessible on the alternate network. Features on the alternate network may not be available this phone as these features are not those of the network the phone was manufactured for use with, and therefore not programmed.

As to whether or not a phone of this type will be available for the network of your choice in the future, we are only able to provide information regarding models that are currently on the market for sale, as any pre-release information would be subject to change and could therefore be inaccurate at the time of launch.

Your continued interest in Samsung products is appreciated.

Sincerely,

Technical Support
[Captivate General] Croak:
And this just came in...
[Captivate General] jentech:
Lol. I just got the same email.
[Captivate General] mack:
Just posting update. I followed your steps and it WORKS with the hypersim/rebelsim etc etc. OMG thank you! I now have a fully functional Captivate on Rogers. Data and Calls work perfectly. i do not experience the same issues as before. APNs stay and no reception lost.

thanks again. Although I'd still like a software unlock soon.
[Captivate General] mack:
I find this interesting and believable because when you boot up the phone, it says WORLD PHONE. its not world if its locked to AT&T. That lawsuit should have no problem succeeding. lol just a theory though.
[Captivate General] Jreddekopp:
What kind of a turbo sim do you have, mack? Did you have to cut the sim?
[Captivate General] Rad_Fishy:
Are turbo sims programmed for each specific phone or will one that works work for all Captivates?
[Captivate General] mack:
i picked it up from some person i found on craigslist toronto. its unbranded and its the slim chip version so i didnt have to cut my sim (see black blob). although i still might cut it since you can always replace your sim for 10 dollars. see pic below:
[Captivate General] Jreddekopp:
I've just put in two ebay orders for TurboSIM-like devices. Hopefully one of those two works out. It'd be nice if this phone could be more than a glorified multimedia device.
[Captivate General] Eldorado_:
got a link for another one in the GTA?

I'd love to pick one up asap... I looked on CL but couldn't find anything.
[Captivate General] prking07:
yeah no doubt this is just a temporary fix till codes come out but at least it will hold us through till then. glad i helped.

t
[Captivate General] prking07:
woldnt know rad, but my friend picked up one not even knowing if it will work and it did. and it was not made for the captivate.
[Captivate General] mack:
sigh i spoke too soon. Had a 20 minute underground subway ride and upon getting outdoors, the phone cannot register on the Rogers network. it keeps saying my sim does not allow connection to this network.

I'll report back with other hypersims that i ordered online. i hear some doesnt cause this while others do.
[Captivate General] juanchoverd:
I'm having the same problem. I bought an x-sim yesterday and at first it worked, but when it disconnects it doesn't connect again. When I manually select to connect to the network I also get "your sim card does not allow a connection to this network"
[Captivate General] prking07:
yeah im thinking it depends on the xsim is just trial and error. also i know some have problems with 3g as well. this is just to get us by till tje real unlocks come. thankfully the one that my friend got dont have many problems with it.
[Captivate General] Eldorado_:
If rumours are correct, Rogers is getting the Captivate on August 20th.. I called AT&T and if that rumour is true, it will no longer be "exclusive" and they will hand out the codes.

Soon, my friends... Soon....
[Captivate General] mack:
do they even consider Canada? I mean technically AT&T still have the exclusive for their market aka USA.
[Captivate General] mack:
Another update:

So i decided to put the phone on Airplane mode. It was on for about ~1 hour. turning off airplane mode, it gained reception right away!

So the tip is: if you are planning to go into the subway, turn on airplane mode before you loose reception. ;)
[Captivate General] REAVER117:
Anyone tried a turbo sim with Telus? I ordered mine 3 weeks ago... still waiting.
[Captivate General] Eldorado_:
The last time I talked to a Supervisor at AT&T an I asked him very specifically if it would still be exclusive if the phone was released in the international Market (specifically Canada), he answered quickly and said "of course."

I asked him if he was sure and he stopped himself saying no he wasn't sure... then I heard him grunt as he reached for something... a giant thump on a desk. I asked him what the thump was and he said it was his book of 'definition of terms'... he looked it up and it clearly stated in the manual that the AT&T exclusivity period ends as soon as the phone is released anywhere, international or otherwise.

Good news, no?

I've gotta hand it to them. Even though they're not giving out the codes, their customer service during the few times that i've had to call over the last couple of weeks has been prompt and professional.